1. The first meeting of the Republic of Korea-Serbia joint cultural committee will take place in Belgrade, Serbia, on April 21, with Director-General for Cultural Affairs Lee Eun-yong and Assistant Minister Goran Aleksic of the Foreign Ministries of the two countries leading their respective delegations. The meeting will come as a result from the efforts over the past eight years to increase cultural exchanges since the entry into force in June 2009 of the bilateral Agreement on the Cooperation in the Fields of Culture, Art and Education.

2. The forthcoming meeting will cover ways to work together on projects to mark the 30th anniversary of the ROK-Serbia diplomatic relations; to boost student exchanges; to step up cooperation on government scholarship programs; to seek a memorandum of understanding on educational cooperation; to increase people-to-people exchanges in the areas of culture, arts and youth; to work together on archives affairs; and expand sports exchanges.

° The two sides will seek an “ROK-Serbia action plan for cultural exchanges” and an MOU between relevant government agencies of their two countries in efforts to make the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2019 a significant opportunity to help the peoples of the two countries better understand and take keener interest in each other.

※ There are three large Taekwondo (Korean martial art) gyms in Serbia that hold Taekwondo contests. Serbia garnered gold and silver medals in Taekwondo at the London 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics.

3. The two sides will review the progress in their steady efforts to promote cooperation in a range of relevant fields, including culture, arts, education and sports, since the conclusion of the bilateral Agreement on the Cooperation in the Fields of Culture, Art and Education; and will discuss ways to step up cultural exchanges and cooperation in a broader range of fields.

4. In the wake of the joint committee meeting, Director-General Lee will meet with Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic and State Secretary Novica Antic of the Ministry of Culture and Information. The meetings are expected to serve as opportunities for the two countries to recognize the importance of the joint committee, which will be put into high gear on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations, as well as the need to enhance their cooperative ties through the joint committee.

5. Going forward, the Foreign Ministry will seek to enhance friendship between the ROK and Serbia through soft power and other cultural diplomacy activities.


* unofficial translation